Dark Rose
by Raikim4never
Summary: After Static and the Gang manage to beat several of their more powerful enemies, they all get taken... somewhere. They're discovered unconscious by an unknown girl, but is she friend or foe? T for Saftey
1. Prologue

Prologue

Hotstreak and Ebon, now separated, still managed to groan at the same time as they hit the street, unconscious. She-Bang was still fighting the badly battered Tamara, and Rubberband Man was holding Shiv off the ground. And far away from him that he couldn't really do anything. After a little assistance from Static and Gear, the remaining two criminals fell as well.

"Well guys-" Static started, before being interrupted by She-Bang clearing her throat, "-and girl- I'd say this was a job well done."

"Couldn't have done it if RB here and I hadn't dropped in at the same time." She-Bang pointed out, much to the annoyance of the electric teenager. Before a fight could break out however, a pink rip, like one you could find in a sheet, appeared. Literally ripping the air from a few feet up until it hit the street, ripping some of the pavement apart. The heroes got into fighting stances (well, ones that fit their powers anyway).

"A new Bang Baby?" Rubberband man asked no one in particular, looking for the source. Before anyone could answer, however, the portal-like ripped glowed a blindingly bright pink, and it, and the heroes vanished. Shiv, who had been faking the whole time, watched as the light faded, showing that the crack of light, and the heroes had disappeared.

"Uh… hello?"

* * *

Meanwhile, on a ledge on the outside of Mount Coronet in the Pokemon World…

A young girl dressed in all black with cloth covering her lower face was climbing the base of what had become the most treacherous mountain in all of Sinnoh (never mind the fact that it was the ONLY mountain in Sinnoh) when a bright pink light stopped her, and she barley managed to cling to the side of the mountain.

"Palkia?" She asked in a hushed tone. Then saw the pink light fade and, at the base of the mountain, four oddly-clad teenagers. Or, what she assumed to be teenagers. One of them looked more like a young adult. She slid down as she had done many time before, but was careful none-the-less. She looked around, an action that, now that she thought about it, she probably should have done before sliding down, when she didn't see whatever she was looking for, she held up a red-and-white ball with a grey button in the middle.

"Come out, my friend." She said, as she tossed the ball onto the ground, and it opened, releasing an orange dog-like creature. An Arcanine. "Blaze, help me carry these saps to the Pokemon Center." The Arcanine, Blaze, grunted in disbelief and annoyance. "It's like, six yards away." Blaze groaned, but allowed his trainer to put three of them on his back. She picked the last one up, deciding to carry him instead. When Blaze shot her a quizzical look, she shrugged. "Not going to make you do all the work." she simply replied. She looked at the starry sky, then back towards the city and sighed. The murky sky was hard to look at, she was no Gastly. After she snuck them to the Pokemon Center and placed the boy she was carrying down, she took the others off Blaze. She looked at them and took a good look at them, then sighed again.

"Freaks in costumes, why do I always meet the weirdoes? Not to mention none of them have a single Poke'ball. Well, the boys are cute at least." She took one last look at the boy she had carried, and snuck a miniature black rose into one the pocket of the boy she had been carrying. She smirked as she returned Blaze. "Well, that's my good deed for the decade." She said to herself, before sprinting off lest she be spotted.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**  
**( A/N This chapter kind of sucks, sorry ^_^; )** (ARFH, THE THING WON'T CENTER JUST THE CHAPTER THING AND AUTHOR'S NOTE! AFOUGHGA!)  
Static groaned as he regained consciousness. "Man, what hit me…? Oh yeah, weird light. Why does light always knock a person out, anyway?" He felt someone tap on his shoulder, and looked over, only to see a giant pink egg with a face and arms.  
"Chansey!" It said cheerfully. Static yelped and fell over, out of the bed he was sitting in. A girl ran in.  
"Are you alright?" She asked, concerned. What shocked Static the most wasn't that she seemed to see nothing wrong with a giant pink thing in the room, but the fact that her hair not only had two giant loops, but was bubblegum pink.  
"Uh, what's with- never mind, what is that thing!" Static said, pointing at the pink thing. The girl, a nurse from the red-cross hat on her head, looked at him oddly.  
"Did you suffer head trauma? That's a Chansey!"  
Now certain the Chansey wasn't after his blood, though he was a little off put by all the pink he had seen lately, Static calmed down.  
"Right, Chansey, sure. Where am I? How'd I get here? And who are you?" Static asked the nurse.  
"You're in the Oreburgh City Pokemon Center, we found you outside the center, and I'm Nurse Joy of course." The nurse replied, happy as ever.  
"Uh, thanks Nurse Joy. Were there other people with me?"  
"Yes, two boys and a girl. We didn't remove any of your masks, though, in case we lost them. You should probably hurry though, you wouldn't want to miss your costume party!"  
"Uh…" Before Static could respond, however, there was a crash from elsewhere in the building.  
"Oh my!" Nurse Joy cried, before running out. Chansey and Static followed her. The three ended up in what was apparently the main lobby of the Pokemon Center, with a blue-harried lady making a scene. She pointed to Static.  
"You!"  
"Me?" Static asked.  
"Are you with them?" She asked, pointing to Rubberband Man, She-Bang, and Gear. None of them looked like they were entirely sure of what was going on, but Gear looked slightly guilty.  
"Yes…" he said.  
"A-HA!" The girl yelled, pointing her finger directly at Static, startling him somewhat.  
"Officer Jenny, what is the meaning of startling these poor, damaged people?" Nurse Joy asked Officer Jenny, clearly at least somewhat annoyed.  
"THIS!" Officer Jenny said, holding up a small black rose. Officer Jenny then pointed directly at Gear. "I found that in his pocket! They're in cahoots with The Dark Rose!" Static looked at Gear with an arched eyebrow.  
"I don't know. It was just in my pocket."  
"LIES!" Officer Jenny yelled. "You're teammates of the famous thief/murderer Dark Rose!" To everyone's shock, Officer Jenny pulled out a gun, and aimed it at Static. "And I bet you're the ring leader!"  
"Why would I be the ring leader? I hate gangs." Static pointed out.  
"I don't believe you! You showed up last, so you're probably leader, or second in command!"  
"Not quite." a feminine voice said, and everyone turned to see a very tanned girl dressed all in black, the girl from last night, standing on top of the Pokemon healing machine.  
"Dark Rose!" Nurse Joy cried in terror. Officer Jenny pointed her gun at the girl, which didn't faze either of them.  
"How'd she get in and up there without any of us noticing?" She-Bang asked Rubberband man, who just shrugged.  
"Come to surrender, eh? Well you have too many counts of theft, grand theft Pokemon, murder, and destruction of private and public property to have your sentence reduced!" Jenny told her cockily.  
"Nah, I was just in the neighborhood and thought 'Hey, while I'm here, why not visit the local center and pick up some Pokemon?'" The girl said. Even though they couldn't see her mouth, the heroes were sure she had a smirk on her face. She reached into her pocket and light speed and released a really, big, Pokeball. With a face. And an evil smile.  
"Electrode." It said evilly, even though its lips didn't move.  
"An Electrode! Everyone get on the ground!" Officer Jenny yelled as the girl threw her Pokemon, which was now glowing, to the ground. It exploded, tearing the widows of the Pokemon Center, and creating lots of smoke. Only Gear wasn't effected (helmet, remember?). The others were chocking and blinded. But everyone was hurt and knocked off their feet.  
"Static! Rubberband Man! She-Bang!" The tech-clad hero called out, eventually managing to find them all. "I had backpack scan this place, she's that way!"  
The injured heroes managed to find a sliding door, with the thief behind it. And some weird mime thing. The four ran in and she spotted them.  
"Tch, figures the weirdoes in costumes would be here first. Berry!" She yelled at the mime thing. "Put up a-" she didn't finish, as she found herself tangled up by a zap cap. "Dang, someone who doesn't waste time. Never thought I'd see the day." She said.  
"Hand back over the, whatever you were stealing." She-Bang demanded.  
"Not happening, Purple. Actually, what're your names anyway? Ah, never mind. Berry, Teleport!" The next moment, she and her mime thing, Berry, got away.  
"Dang." Static said, disappointed at letting a big shot bag guy get away.  
"Admirable work, even if she did get away." Officer Jenny said, popping up behind them.  
"Ah!" Gear cried, jumping foreword.  
"Uh, any reason you didn't help?" She-Bang asked the officer, hands on her hips.  
"By the time I got here, she was a second away from teleporting. It seems you really aren't working for or with her."  
"Uh, yeah. We're kind of superheroes where we come from." Rubberband Man told her. The officer merely raised an eyebrow.  
"And where are you from?"  
"Dakota City." Static told her, wondering why she hadn't heard of it. When her look of confusion didn't change, he added, "United States." Still nothing. "North America." She shook her head. "Western Hemisphere. Earth."  
"Nope. Not ringing a bell." The police officer replied, shocking and slightly frightening the heroes.  
"Uh, planet Earth."  
"Sorry, this is P-Gaia. Your world may be a parallel dimension, though. Come back with me to the station, I'll tell you about that stuff…"  
Later, at the Oreburgh Police Station…  
"…and I said, no, but the Wartortle might!" Officer Jenny finished, earning more than a few laughs.  
"…I don't get it." She-Bang put in.  
"Ah, here we are." Jenny said. The heroes looked around.  
"Uh, Officer Jenny," She-Bang said, "You're standing in front of a boulder."  
"Ah, it just looks like a boulder." Jenny said, putting her hand on the boulder. Said boulder rumbled and part of it moved away, revealing a work station like any other police station. The shocked heroes followed Jenny in wordlessly. The inside had five computers, each with labels (for newcomers, Jenny explained) explaining what they covered. Which was: Crime Database; Suspects; List Of Felonies and Seriousness of each; List of Officers; Communication Lines and Projects, for those who are interested. It was also lined with Wanted Posters for Dark Rose that said: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE. REWARD: 6000000 POKEDOLLARS.  
"Geeze." Gear said, taking down one of the posters to get a better look at it. "You wouldn't think she was a murderer, by the look of her."  
"But she is. Will you 'Heroes' help me capture her? She stole one of my closest Pokemon, so it's kind of personal for me. But I'll take any help I can get."  
"Sure, I guess. Man, I feel like we're being recruited by force by a bad game…"  
"Officer Jenny!" A girl cried, running in. She had short black hair and wore a police outfit that looked a lot like Jenny's, only she had a larger hat and longer skirt.  
"Marina! What's wrong?" Officer Jenny asked, then turned to the heroes. "Oh, this is our newest and brightest cadet, Marina." She turned back to Marina, "These are Heroes from an alternate dimension called Earth."  
"Uh," She bowed slightly and awkwardly towards the Heroes. "Nice to meet you. Anyway, Officer Jenny! There's a Gamble Battle going on at the Oreburgh Maze!" Jenny gasped.  
"What? I'll be right there!" Jenny was halfway out the door when she remembered the Heroes. "Are you coming or what?" Marina looked at them.  
"You're really from an alternate universe?" She asked.  
"Yeah, apparently." Gear told her, rubbing the back of his head as they and the heroes followed Officer Jenny. She smiled.  
"That's really cool. Do you know Palkia?" She asked, then sighed when she saw his blank look. "He's one of the only things that can traverse all dimensions. I guess that answers my question though." she told him.  
"Sorry. Hey, what is a Gamble Battle anyway?" Gear asked her.  
"It's a Pokemon Battle where the winner obtains all Pokemon used." Marina told him. Gear looked disturbed.  
"You battle using Pokemon? As weapons?" He asked, horrified.  
"It's not like a duel where the user gets hurt. And the Pokemon don't die or anything. It's an age-old tradition, and the Pokemon enjoy it." She looked down. "Or at least, they used to."  
"Alright, drop all your weapons and put your hands in the air!" Jenny yelled, signaling that they had reached the maze. Jenny looked back for a split second, right at Marina. "Marina, gather the prize Pokemon."  
"Yes. Ma'am." Marina said, keeping close to the wall and out of sight as she headed to the other end of the circular entrance.  
"What makes you think we'll listen to-"  
"I surrender!"  
"…Jackson get a hold of yourself man… *ahem* what makes you think we'll listen to you?" The man who had spoken was a bodybuilder, to a disturbing degree to the heroes. The tossed out a red-and-white ball. "Magnemite, Screech attack!" Officer Jenny and the Heroes had to cover their ears.  
"The noise! Oh man, the noise!" She-Bang yelled, almost passed out from the horrible screeching. Suddenly, it stopped and she saw Jenny wobbling weakly with a orange puppy, a Growlithe, in front of the Officer. The Magnemite was charred and unconscious, but otherwise unhurt.  
"Useless thing, Magnemite re-"  
"They're gone!" Marina shouted, from the back, a bag landed at her feet, as the very tan girl paled. "All of them! Not a single Poke'ball left!" Everyone in the mine turned to look at her, shocked.  
"Marina, what are you-"  
"None!" She yelled, picking up the bag then turning it upside-down, showing how empty it was.  
"Our Pokemon!"  
"Those were our prizes, damnit!"  
"Who stole our Pokemon?" The three thugs yelled, unhappy. Officer Jenny pointed a gun at them.  
"On the ground, all of you! Or you'll feel my Growlithe's flames!" The thugs obeyed, as Growlithe watched over them growling. Jenny walked over to Marina. "There can't just be nothing."  
"Well, there was, one thing…" Marina said uncertainly, looking away.  
"Well, what is it?" Jenny demanded, then gasped when Marina held it up.  
A Black Rose.  
"Dark Rose's calling card. That's what I found." Marina said softly. Static and Gear looked at each other.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**(This chapter is _much _better than the last one. Better narrative and such...)  
**

After what happened in Oreburgh Maze, Jenny gave each of the Heroes their own rooms in the headquarters. At least until they could find a way to get back home.

"You'll also need these." Jenny told them, handing them what looked like the kind of stage microphones that you clipped to your ear.

"What _are _these?" She-Bang asked, looking at the one she had received.

"Tele-transmitters. They help us find your position, and work as communicators as well." Jenny told her quickly. "You'll need them in case you get separated. Also, here." She added, giving them what looked like digital wristwatches. "These are Poke'techs. They have two maps, a phone, two different kinds of clocks, and a ton of other functions."

"Thanks." Static said, as Gear evaluated his. She-Bang put hers on and posed a bit, and Rubberband Man didn't do much, except put his arm through the loop.

"Now that you've got all your equipment, we can start our hunt for Dark Rose!" Jenny exclaimed triumphantly, putting her foot up on a stool from nowhere, accompanied by fanfare in her head.

"Uh, that's great and all, but where are we supposed to look?" Rubberband Man asked, deflating Jenny instantly.

"Well…"

"I'm on it." Marina said, entering through the hidden entrance and sitting down at the computer marked Suspects.

"Excellent work ethic Marina!" Jenny exclaimed, before turning to the heroes. "We should get to work as well!" At that, she released her Growlithe. "Growlithe, go on patrol for Dark Rose activity. But remember to remain inconspicuous, I'd hate for you to get stolen." The Growlithe barked once and left. "Marina, shall you send a Pokemon out as-"

"I'd prefer to do my own work." The girl stated sharply and swiftly, not turning away from the computer. There was a pause before anyone spoke again.

"…Alrighty then. Static, Gear, She-Bang, Rubberband Man. Those were your names, correct?" Jenny asked.

"Yes."

"I'll show you to your rooms." She said, walking ahead. The heroes looked at each other and then silently followed her.

**Two Weeks Later**

The heroes were running after a figure, a figure who was supposed to be working with Dark Rose. This was the fourth run so far, though it seemed the most promising. The last three had been dead ends, false leads and misinformation. Nothing had gone right for the past two weeks, from the virus getting into the computers (luckily, Marina had the foresight to back the computers up, so almost nothing was lost) to She-Bang getting some sort of flu that, apparently, was a mutated strand that _only _attacked people like her.

The figure, a man in his forties, turned a corner, only to come across a dead end. Sweating, he turned around to see his only way out was blocked off my various people, two in police uniforms, and four in strange outfits. Scared and figuring he had nothing to lose, he let loose a Koffing.

"Smokescreen!" He screamed, and the purple floating mine released just that. Most of the people were sent into a coughing fit, until Static cleared the smoke.

"Where's the suspect?" Officer Jenny cried, angry she let a target get away.

"Gear and Marina are gone too." Rubberband Man pointed out. "I don't think Mr. Grata is getting away."

And he was right. At that moment, Gear, who's visor still protected him from smoke and gasses (and had been specially tinkered with to do so) and Marina, who'd pulled her hat over her mouth and eyes, were giving chase.

"For an old guy, this dude can run." Gear said, breathing heavy.

"Be grateful I know Mount Coronet like the back of my hand." Marina said, her training keeping her from getting as tired as fast. "I've only climbed the outside like, forty times. And I'm not going into the amount of spelunking I've done in here." She told him, before chuckling.

"What?" Gear asked."'Spelunking'. It's just such an odd word. Never really used it before." She replied, causing Gear to roll his eyes.

"What is it with the word 'spelunking' and people in general?" He asked, and Marina shrugged. There was a pause, interrupted only by Gear's panting.

"We sound like idiots." Marina noted, after the pause. "Just two normal, stupid teenagers talking about nonsense, like you'd do while watching a Pokemon battle, or chowing down at the food court in a mall." She chuckled. "But we're not normal, are we?"

"No. No we're not. Well, I'm not." Gear said. "You seem pretty normal." Marina chuckled again.

"Trust me, I'm not normal." With that, the two slid into another chamber, where the man was scrambling to get out a hole.

"Peachie!" Marina yelled, throwing a Poke' Ball. "Bubblebeam!" In a flash of red, a Pokemon that seemed to be made of pink coral, a Corsala, appeared, and followed her trainers commands. Perhaps a bit to well though, as there was an explosion. "Why" Marina yelled aloud as the man fell unconscious to the floor, "do powerful attacks always do that? I mean, Bubblebeam is made out of _water _for crying out loud!" Just then, she noticed something at her feet, and, recognizing it immediately, picked it up.

"Well." Gear said, looking at the unconscious man. "He's defiantly not dead. No blood."

"Yeah…" Marina said, before tossing the item she had in her hands to him. "Catch." Gear yelped in surprise and a bit of fear. The item was his helmet.

"Th-thanks." He said, putting it back on quickly.

"I'm surprised something like that hasn't happened yet. Well, whatever." Marina shrugged, before pulling out some hadcuffs, and walking over to the man, muttering something under her breath about 'resisting arrest' or some such. After a few awkward moments, Officer Jenny and the Heroes came in.

"Excellent work, Marina!" Officer Jenny said happily, prying the unconscious, handcuffed man off the floor with ease.

"Just doing my job, ma'am." Marina replied with a shrug, before glancing at Gear, who looked down. The tension went unnoticed by everyone else.

**That Night**

"I'm heading to bed." Gear announced, heading towards his room. Everyone was in the police lounge, watching a soccer game.

"All ready? It's barley seven." Static pointed out. Gear just shrugged.

"I'm tired." He said, before turning. A few minutes after he left. Marina stood up and headed towards his room, unobserved by the others.

"Gear?" Marina asked, stepping into the boy's room. The boy was in his pajamas, and quickly hid his face. "I already remember what you look like, remember?" Slowly, the boy lowered his hands. "I want to talk to you, but first…" She trailed off, then before Gear could react, Marina had sent out a Zubat. "Ethan, use Mean Look." She said calmly. Immediately, Gear was alone in pitch black darkness, suddenly a single, realistic, red eye, almost as big as he was, blinked open in front of him, before closing itself, blinking out of existence. A second afterwards, a thousand other red eyes opened, surrounding him and he felt himself go rigged, mostly from fear, before they blinked out of existence themselves with a screech. Gear found himself rigged, almost paralyzed, and facing Marina, who spoke again, the Zubat hanging from her arm, which was stretched out to the side. "I don't want what I'm going to tell you to leave this room." Gear nodded, able to do that much and afraid of what might happen if he didn't agree.

An hour and a half later, Marina returned Ethan, and Gear felt his muscles relax, before he sat on the edge of his bed dumbfounded.

"You're lying. You have to be." Was all he could say. There was no reply, as Marina simply turned and left, giving him one last, honestly concerned, glance at the door, before leaving for her own room. "It can't be true…" He muttered, before flopping onto his bed, muttering about what he had heard. The last thing he did before falling asleep was to look at device, a Pokedex, Marina had called it, and to hide it.

* * *

All the heroes were awoken by a siren going off, and flashing red lights.

"No more fire pants!" Shenice yelled, before realizing her surroundings, and smiling weakly at herself, embarrassed, but thankful she had her own room. Once she got her bearings, she changing into her costume, becoming She-Bang and joining the boys, Marina, and Officer Jenny in the main room. "What's going on?"

"We've discovered the location of an Underground Battling Ring." Marina said, grabbing a backpack. "An area that holds horrible tournaments where people have Pokemon try to kill each other. According to an informant, there's a tournament going on now." She-Bang nodded.

"Let's move out!" Jenny yelled, which the Heroes had quickly learned she did before almost _every _mission.

* * *

"Where. Is. The. Stupid. OPENING?" Static yelled, getting more frustrated by the moment. They'd been searching for where, according to Marina's informant, the opening to an Underground Battling Ring was, but so far, all they'd ended up with was a wicked case of poison ivy (or poison oak, in Marina's case, though it was hard to tell). Marina shushed him.

"Shush!" She hissed. "If there _is _a UBR around here, you'll scare everyone off before we can bust them!" The girl rolled her eyes. Long-term stealth didn't seem to be Static's thing, and she almost laughed at his condition, the poison ivy all over his face and hands making him almost look like he was decorated in red tinsel, but she didn't look much better. Just then, her highly trained eye noticed something unusual.

Most holes on boulders weren't shaped like handprints. She studied it closer. Yep, it was rubbed worm, hidden and twice as big as a normal person's hand, but that was definitely shaped like a handprint.

"Yo Gear." She called quietly. Gear, who had been uncharacteristically emotionless all day, walked over. "Think this is some kind of switch?"

"Maybe." Gear shrugged, and Marina almost groaned. She almost thought that telling him was a bad idea… it seemed to short circuit him. Or most of his brain, one of the two.

"Fine. Don't help." She said, rolling her eyes. "But if I set off a security alarm because my fingerprints don't match or something, I'm blaming you. Same goes for if I lose my hand." And with that, she pushed her hand into the hole, and pushed. And immediately, the boulder disappeared, and was replaced by an odd, round… thing, that was big enough for all of them to stand on.

"What the… What _is _that?" Gear asked, more to himself then to anyone else.

"Holy Miltank, it's a Teleporter Tile!" Marina exclaimed, surprised and happy, apparently knowing what the thing was. "I thought those were only in Kanto and Hoenn." She said thoughtfully, rubbing her chin with a mischievous smile on her face, before turning to Officer Jenny and the other Heroes, who were so absorbed in their own searches, they had somehow missed a boulder disappearing into thin air. Marina whistled, dawning their attention to the discovery. Jenny looked a bit defeated, before brightening up.

"Excellent work Marina, as always." She said, a bit humiliated, before cheering up. "Where does it go?" Marina smiled.

"Let's find out!" She exclaimed, grabbing Gear and pulling him onto the Tile before he could protest. In an instant, the two were gone. The heroes and Jenny were shocked for a second, before following them. A single flash of white light later, and they were overlooking a stadium, just a normal, brown one, with thousands of seats surrounding the arena, almost all of them filled. There wasn't any blood on the floor of the arena, but almost all their stomachs gave a lurch at the same time when they noticed several Pokemon corpses, from a Houndoom that clearly went through a lot of battles and went down fighting, to a Ralts that looked like it had never stood a chance.

"We need a way to break up the festivities." Jenny mussed to herself. "But first, is that the only exit?"

"Yes Ma'am, if my informant is correct." Marina confirmed, saluting. Gear rolled his eyes, which went unnoticed by the others. Or, most of the others.

"Hey Gear, you okay?" Static asked, concerned for his best friend. "You've been acting weird lately."

"I'm fine, bro." Gear said with a shrug. "Just, had a nightmare last night is all." Static looked at him, not believing his friend for a second, but he decided now wasn't the best time to talk about whatever was bothering him.

"I'll take care of breaking up this… nice little party." Marina said, before throwing her Poke Ball into the air. "Peachie, Bubblebeam the lights!" The Corsala obeyed, and spat mostly solid, highly compressed bubbles towards the lights, blowing a circuit. Panic ensued immediately. Everyone in the crowd thinking one of the starved Pokemon had gotten loose. Until someone noticed the heroes and the girls in police uniforms, and the panic died, though only by the slightest of margins.

"Ethan, Mean Look!" Marina yelled, releasing the Zubat. Memories of last night came fresh to Gear's mind, and he shuddered slightly. To think she'd use that attack on a huge crowd of innocent, for the most part, people… It was horrible. But then again, why wouldn't she? All things considered…

The next hour and a half involved handcuffing everyone involved, that is, the trainers that were getting their Pokemon killed for profit. Nearly everyone else was going to be brought in as well, though, for questioning. To the heroes, it felt like it took _forever_.

"Now all that's left is to get the Pokemon to the Center…" Jenny smiled, once everybody was restrained, before leading the heroes to where the Pokemon were kept. Once they got there, however, they received a shock.

"Aw crud." Marina cringed, holding a bag of the Poke Balls in her hand.

"Marina…" Jenny said shocked. No one noticed Gear, the only one not surprised, shaking his head. "You're… you're stealing the… what?"

'Marina' groaned, before jumping back onto one of the shelves for storing Pokemon, then tossing something at Officer Jenny and the heroes, who scattered.

"Guess I had to be found out eventually." 'Marina' shrugged. "Ethan, Peachie!" She yelled, and the two mostly unintimidating Pokemon darted in, before the girl returned Peachie, leaving only speedy Ethan.

"Marina, what's gotten _into _you!" Officer Jenny yelled, horrified.

"The real Marina has been locked up in my closet, which I've turned into a hammerspace resort, for over two months." The girl smirked. Officer Jenny blanked, then grew angry.

"THEN WHO ARE YOU!" She screamed.

"You really do have a few screws loose." The girl said with a roll of her eyes. "Why not take a look at that gift I threw to you?" She smirked as Officer Jenny, warily, turned to look at the item she had thrown. She, and all the heroes except Gear, were horrified when they saw what it was.

"She was so close…" Static groaned, before turning to attack the girl. Unfortunately, she had taken the momentary distraction to make herself scarce. Gear simply walked over to the symbol she'd thrown, and picked it up, unseen. A black rose.

Dark Rose had struck again.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

* * *

"Ta-ta!" Dark Rose laughed, as she clung to Blaze's back, her backpack loaded with Poke Balls, laughing at Officer Jenny and the heroes latest attempts to catch her. Static, exhausted, frustrated, and stained with dirt, nearly screamed in frustration. No matter what they did, they that girl always seemed to be three steps ahead of them!  
Officer Jenny had lost it when she learned that her trusted apprentice had actually been the most wanted criminal since Gheitis. She didn't trust anyone, and her new and fired up obsession was worrying the heroes. Though they didn't say anything out loud, it was obvious that, though cruel, Dark Rose had spoke the truth. She had several screws loose, and they were becoming looser every day Dark Rose was walking around free. No one was looking foreword to tonight, except perhaps Gear.

Static was worried about his best friend. He'd become shockingly reclusive, barley cracked any jokes, and seemed to have forgotten how to laugh. Even before Dark Rose had revealed herself, and he seemed to be the only one not shocked when she did. Gear was quickly turning cynical, that was the only explanation for his strange behavior. But… why? What could have possibly happened? Worse, he wasn't just becoming cynical, but secretive as well, and he even seemed to be developing a sadistic side, though that very rarely showed. He had arguably suffered the worst change, though it was hard at times to tell whether he actually did beat Jenny out or not.

* * *

"She got away." Jenny, started, coolly, before screaming. "AGAIN!" She screeched, pulling at her, nowadays very messy and untamed, hair. "Let me guess, DISITEGRATED the nets!" She snarled. Oh yeah, she was definitely worse than Gear. She-Bang flinched.

"Burned them, actually." She said quietly, though Jenny heard her.

"GHAS!" She screamed.

"Is that even a real word?" Gear asked, the only one even slightly amused.

"Weren't they supposed to be FIREPROFF?" She screamed, before she slammed her fist down on the desk, causing more flinches, before retreating to her private room. The heroes were sure that there had to be broken objects in that room, and that it was soundproof.

"Fireproff isn't a real word either." Gear noted, before turning to go back to his own room. The other heroes started after him.

"What's gotten into him?" She-Bang asked no one in particular. Static shrugged.

"I don't know. I really don't know…" He said, looking at the floor, before muttering to himself. "I feel so powerless…" That was one of the few ways to describe it. The worst criminal any of them had ever met kept getting away, usually taunting them as she did so, Officer Jenny's sanity was slipping fast, and Gear was growing more and more emotionally distant from all of them, especially him. It made him, and the other heroes, feel weak and completely powerless. Rubberband Man put his hand of Static's shoulder.

"He's probably dealing with some tough stuff, brother, just like all of us." He told the electrically-charged hero. "I think he's just dealing with it his own way. If he doesn't open up soon, we'll talk to him." Static nodded, before looking out the one-way window. The Pokemon Center was illuminated in the dark, the only building with it's lights on, mixed with the lights of sunset. The Pokemon Center, that's where all this began. Static wondered if the criminals they had been fighting before all this began had been picked up by the police, and how his dad and Sharon were holding up, with him just going missing. Maybe his pops had told Sharon who he was, just to stop her from going postal at his disappearance. Was everyone searching for him, still? Any search party had probably lost hope by now.

Rubberband Man looked out as well, and almost sighed. He was trying to keep peace between the group, but it was falling apart anyway. Jenny's sanity was depleting fast, Gear had almost stopped talking completely, except for whenever he decided he wanted to make a nasty comment, he knew She-Bang woke up sobbing for her parents every few nights now, and Static was having nightmares about the Hawkins family (to be honest, he had guessed by now that the electric hero was probably Virgil, but he didn't know for certain and kept quiet). They just wanted to go home, and he could hardly blame them. Even he did, though he didn't really have any family to go back to, he still missed Sharon, the Hawkins were like family to him, all of them. At first, he'd been as reclusive as Gear was being, but seeing the normally happy and joking hero in the same state had been a cold slap to the face from reality, and he realized his own reclusion wasn't helping anyone get anywhere, home or otherwise. He suppressed a sigh as the memories of his time in Dakota, on tour bringing the music he made to the fans he cared so much about, and most of all, his time with his beloved girlfriend, came back to him. He felt something like a fist clamping in his chest, but smiled, for the others.

* * *

Gear lay on his bed, not bothering to change out of his hero getup. He was staring at the ceiling, thinking. He was pretty sure he'd done a lot more lately then he used to do. No, that wasn't quite right, it was about the same amount, maybe more, but it was a deeper kind of thought. For the first time, he had realized the truth about this place, but he wished he hadn't. What Dark Rose had told him… for a while, he denied it, kept telling himself she was lying, but he had done research. Then he had nightmares about what he had heard, what he had been told. He didn't want it to be true, but it was. Sighing, he took his helmet off and took the Pokedex from it's hiding place. It wasn't a normal Pokedex, however. Dark Rose told him a Pokedex only gave you information on Pokemon, but this did so much more. After thinking about it for a minute, he flipped open the device and used one of those odd features, a communications feature. It wasn't any different from e-mail, really. There were no new messages- though he hadn't thought that there would be any. Instead, he looked at the old one, and the only one, inside it.  
Keep your distance. Your time is coming.  
Gear sighed again at the odd message, he had figured out what it meant and who had sent it to him easily, he was a genius after all, but he wasn't always sure he should trust it. But there was nothing else he could do but obey and wait, and so that's what he did. But the message wasn't all he had gotten from the mail, attached to it, and completely unrelated to the message, was a photo, or perhaps drawing was more likely, of him, as Richie, not Gear, with his friends and family, including the Hawkins'. The scene in the photo had never happened to his knowledge, one more reason that he doubted it was an actual photo, but he appreciated the sentiment. Berry was a mind reader as well, which he knew from personal experience ever since the incident all those nights ago, but he didn't think the girl could draw that well. He was rather impressed, not only from her skills, but also from the fact that she had be thoughtful enough to send it to him, to help him stay at least somewhat sane, unlike Jenny.

* * *

A loud crash, of all things, calmed Jenny down. She looked at the vase, now in a hundred or more pieces, at the floor on the other wall.  
She had found Marina exactly where Dark Rose said she was, but that didn't matter. Marina, Dark Rose, they were the same, and the false police officer was spending her time in Juvie. But how did she keep sneaking out? HOW! How could she hide so many Pokemon in her cell? Who else was going to betray her? Who else was her? She couldn't trust anybody… never anybody. She was everywhere, everybody, everything. She was always watching her, calculating her every move, and which of the moves she had would be the most humiliating.  
Jenny never liked Chess, but Marina, that is to say, Dark Rose, had. And it felt like she was losing another game to her all the time.

* * *

Dark Rose was alone, with the exception of an Eevee, who was watching her with an expression that somehow managed to be both exasperated and curious at the same time. Dark Rose and the Eevee, a male named Wes, were in a darkened forest, the only light from a lone candle on a very out-of-place table. The girl sighed, looking at the other item on the table, a chessboard. The pieces on the board suggesting that there had been a game in progress, however Wes had not been playing, leaving only Dark Rose, by herself, to have been playing the game somehow. Slowly, the girl did move a piece, her rook, and then pulled away from the table, as though it would bite her.

"Every second that passes, I come closer to taking out one of your castles." She said to no one, though Wes looked at her, somehow knowing what the girl was talking about. "Soon, my king will move itself, and he and the queen will sweep the board." She looked at the far side of the board. "And yet, the white king, though he hasn't moved, hasn't appeared either. I need to topple him if the black king is to win." She sighed. "But who are the white king and queen? Or the remaining white bishop? Will I have to make the ultimate sacrifice, lose my queen to win?" She shook her head, before turning to Wes. "Chess is a complicated game, Wes, and years of strategizing can still end up in failure. The ultimate tool, besides a good, well thought-out plan, is the ability to change that plan, to adapt, and still win. It takes years on honing before those skills can be put into practice."

"Ee." Wes said, which Dark Rose understood to mean 'clearly'. She chuckled.

"C'mon, let's make sure we're unseen before setting up camp." The girl said, and with a snap of her fingers, the table, candle, and chess board all disappeared, leaving the two, who luckily had excellent eyesight, in the dark. Though a final thought struck Wes, as he remembered a something. He had heard his trainer talk about mixing a black piece into the whites, a sacrifice, but it would go unnoticed, at the side of the board and nearly impossible, as well as a waste of time, to take. But what was that piece, something that was probably nothing more than a pawn?  
He hoped it was him. He wanted to serve a greater purpose than just a being the Pokemon of a trainer, albeit a good one.

The two walked in silence, as Dark Rose considered her own words. When thinking about Chess, and it's strategies, she was almost an entirely different person. Her associates, who were mainly, if not entirely, her Pokemon, knew that. And yet, Wes insisted on watching her. He would be good at Chess one day, and not just the board game either.  
She had spoken the truth, however, about the white king, queen and remaining bishop. They were just sitting on the table, under her nose, and yet she couldn't get to them, almost as if they weren't there. It frustrated her. If she couldn't find or get to the most important piece of her opponent, whether that was the queen or king, she couldn't win. She could eliminate everything else, but it wouldn't mean victory. It would mean chaos, free reign for those she hadn't gotten to before, and that was something she had no intention of creating. Chaos wasn't a victory, it was a loss in almost, if not every, sense of the word. She couldn't afford a loss, with even one loss, her opponent would lost their fear of her, find she was only human. That couldn't happen. If they lost their fear, they might start thinking clearly, which would just lead to more losses. The girl shook her head, no, she couldn't afford that. She had to strike, get her plan going, and get the kings into the game.

* * *

A week later, another alarm sounded, one just like the one from a the day of the discovery, but no one, except Jenny, responded to it right away. After realizing no one was responding, the officer screamed in frustration, before running to and pounding on the heroes doors, threatening to come in if they didn't come out and how had they not heard the siren and alarm.  
The truth was, all of them had heard it, but none of them wanted to respond. They were scared. What if something like last time happened again? After about ten minutes of Jenny pounding on their doors and just generally driving them crazy, they finally caved and put their costumes on, before joining the police officer in the main room.

"What's going on?" Rubberband Man asked the police officer, who acted as though she didn't hear him.

"FINALLY!" She yelled, exasperated. "Now, as some of you may be wondering about, the alarm is a distress call." She said, turning towards one of the computers, "There's been a break-in at the research lab in Hearthrome City, and we've finally got her!" She announced gleefully.

"Just tell us the direction." Rubberband Man told her, not wanting to make the women any more upset then she already was. Unfortunately, it looked like he had done just that, which was easy to recognize when she began laughing like a mad women.

"You? You think you're coming?" She asked, before letting out her crazed laugh. "Why would I let you four come and betray me?" She laughed harder, and the heroes, minus Gear, stepped back. The other heroes were worried about her, but Gear didn't really care any more. He'd learned enough about her, thanks to Dark Rose, that he really couldn't care less. That's not to say he didn't care in general anymore, no, despite what he'd been warned of, he couldn't just stop caring. He acted like he had, but he hadn't, if anything threatened his friends, Rubberband Man, She-Bang, and especially Static, he wouldn't be able to control himself, not without help. But how was he supposed to help everyone, if all he had to go on was the word of a dark, mysterious criminal? Not as though he didn't believe her, no, she had used Berry to show him she was telling the truth, and he had been double checking like crazy. She had spoken the truth and it was unsettling, to say the least. Gear was snapped out of his thoughts as the police women slammed the door, and the sound of a motorbike started. Gear smiled slightly as a thought struck him, this could be the chance. The chance to see if he, and Dark Rose, were right. He could find out if she and everything he'd found out, using my excellent, if he do say so himself, hacking skills. The info had been buried, and that had been the warning bells. And now it was about time he checked to see if it was a false alarm.

* * *

"I'm going." I said simply, as soon as Jenny had disappeared.

"What?" Static, of course, asked. "Are you tripping? She just said she didn't want anyone following!"

"So I heard." I said, rolling my eyes. I was the smartest guy alive, or one of them, anyway, and she'd practically been screaming. I'm pretty sure I heard and understood what she'd said. "I'm going anyway." I didn't care about what Jenny said anymore, most of it was insane babble or a lie. The others protested, of course, but I couldn't help but wonder if they thought I was going off the deep end too. I honestly don't think I'd be surprised. I had changed the most, and the fastest, but who could blame me? We'd been here over three months now, and after what I'd found out… Not to mention what they saw was how I was pretending to be now, not how I really was, my old, joking self. I hadn't had the opportunity to crack a joke for a while now, mainly because I had to keep an emotional distance from everyone, in case, in case…

"Gear, are you insane?" She-Bang asked, annoyed. "You heard what she said! She'll probably throw you in prison to rot in her condition!" I wouldn't be surprised if she did, honestly. But I had to know, and if I and Dark Rose were right, if that was the case, it wouldn't matter what Jenny thought. Not anymore.

"Maybe I am insane." I said coldly, before walking past the others towards my room. "I'm getting some supplies, then leaving." And that was that. Not that the other's hadn't kept trying to stop me, of course. I had to keep myself from smiling at their concern, it was touching. But when I had gotten back to my room, I saw a distress call on the Pokedex, and I knew I'd have to leave anyway. If everything really was true, it was my responsibility as a hero of Dakota, of Earth, to do this, save her and prevent… whatever it was that these people wanted. I turned to leave my room, and realized there was a chance my friends were waiting to jump me. For my own good, of course, like in comics and cartoons and all that, to tie me to a chair or something until I snapped out of my current state, until I told them everything, until… something. Luckily for me, I had Jet Blades and a window. I saw everything pass me by, and I felt the freedom that came with flying, being careful to avoid being seen. I'd never had to avoid that before, that was new, and I kept above the clouds. Everything looked… different. It always looks different when you fly above buildings and fields and people, but this was even more so. Everything was partially obstructed by clouds, so everything below me almost looked blanketed in snow or thick fog.  
I'd read about where I was going before, several times. The classified documents were… disturbing, to say the least. I looked below, and activated a present I'd been given. Essentially a gas mask. And as I crossed into… whatever it was called, Route something I think, I was immediately grateful. In a few minutes I was long out of sight of the hidden building I'd been holed up in… and I truly had been holed up there, not allowed to leave, though I hadn't noticed until Dark Rose… I digress, I was out of sight of my friends and I sent a longing look back in their direction. Everything changes for me after this. For them. For everyone.

* * *

I kicked my chair, I kicked my bed, I kicked my wall. I almost broke my wall. She-Bang, AKA Shenice Veils, undid her mask and placed it on her bed-post. How could the three 'heroes' be so stupid as to let their ally get away like that? Now he was going to go to jail, and they'd lose their smartest member. Or, formerly smartest, considering how he was acting… I sat on my bed, glaring angrily at the floor. I remembered when he had saved her parents when that… thing that used to be a good man almost poisoned them. I'd never really made it up to him, now that I think about it. And now that he's gone, I may never get the shot… there was no way Jenny wouldn't see this as a betrayal. He'd be locked up for good, though in her condition, he'd probably have to go through worse… And what if that criminal, Dark Rose, did something to him? She was a murderer, why wouldn't she harm him, kill him or something?  
Come to think of it… why hadn't she done something to one of us already? I shook my head and banished that thought from my mind. She had hurt Jenny several times already, nearly cut her arm off in one encounter, and burned her leg in another. She'd attacked us several times, but only Jenny seemed to be the one getting hurt.  
Why?


	5. Author's Note

In the Process of being rewritten. My apologies, I lost all my stories and can't do anything at the moment.


End file.
